Live & Learn

Since late last year, Malaysia has had an Anti-Sexual Harassment Act. Which is great. But often in our day-to-day conversations, we still hear discussions, debates and confusion about what exactly constitutes sexual harassment and what are the potential red flags to look out for. 

Recently, AWAM – All Women’s Action Society, put up an infographic titled ‘Am I the Harasser’ on Twitter with guidelines on how to identify and address harmful actions. We unpack this with Dhivyasri, Programme Officer, AWAM.

Image Credit: Shutterstock

Some kids are just born with it - setting up lemonade stalls, selling sweets during recess, washing cars after school, even starting their own Youtube Channel to sell their craft -  young entrepreneurs never fail to amaze us with their savvy skills, but also for their hard work, effective communication, and resilience. Even if some of us are not born with it, encouraging entrepreneurial skills are certainly beneficial, teaching kids to capitalise on their dreams, rather than deny it. We speak to 11 year-old Jared Yau, 12 year old Kotowa Kato and Dr. Ewe Chun Te from Acton Academy KL, about the making and nurturing of young entrepreneurs, and how youth entrepreneurship education can make a difference in the growth and development of young people. They also share more about the upcoming 6th annual Children's Business Fair Kuala Lumpur,  where children get to be a CEO and launch their very own businesses.

Tiger Stripes is a Malay-language horror film, which follows a 12-year-old girl’s struggles with puberty. Directed and written by Amanda Nell Eu, it was recently announced that the film will be showcased at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, after it was selected for the Cannes Critics’ Week, which focuses on first- and second-time works. With this selection, Tiger Stripes will be the first time since 2010 that a Malaysian film has been featured in Cannes, and Amanda is also the first Malaysian female filmmaker to be invited to Cannes. Amanda joins us on the show to share more about Tiger Stripes, and what she hopes this means for her career and the film industry in Malaysia. 

For updates on Tiger Stripes, follow Ghost Grrrl Pictures on Instagram. 

Image credit: Amanda Nell Eu/Ghost Grrrl Pictures

The Malaysia Teacher Prize (MTP) returns, set to celebrate exceptional educators in Malaysia, and is the first of its kind in our country to recognise teachers on a national scale, and provide a platform to scale their best practices. Back for its second year, the competition is organised by Pemimpin GSL with the support of YTL Foundation, and is a localised version of the world renowned Global Teacher Prize. We speak to Cheryl Ann Fernando (CEO, Pemimpin GSL) and also two exceptional teachers, Anuthra Sirisena, a teacher from SMJK Chung Hwa in Tenom, Sabah, who was the winner of the 2022 Malaysia Teacher Prize, and Aishah bt Mohd Hamdan, a teacher with SMK Raja Permaisuri Bainun, Perak and one of the Top 5 Finalists of the MTP 2022, about their experience of participating in the 2022 prize cycle, and how the MTP helps appreciate, celebrate and highlight outstanding teachers in Malaysia.

Image Credit: malaysiateacherprize.org

Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) has once again called on the Prime Minister and his administration to compel all members of parliament to declare their assets to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). TI-M has also said that we need to push for a Bill to be tabled in Parliament in the form of an Asset Declaration Act or something similar. 

But why is asset declaration important?

Education should be and is a basic right for all children, but that’s not necessarily true for refugee children here in Malaysia. They can’t access government schools at any level, and are not always able to afford the fees of attending private schools. There’s where refugee learning centres step in to do what they can to fill in the gaps. Dr Sharuna Verghis, co-founder of Health Equity Initiatives and Teacher Sam, Principal of the Kachin Refugee Learning Centre joins us to share the challenges that refugee learning centres face, and how education can change lives.

Image Credit: Kachin Learning Centre/Facebook 

The Malaysian Parliament had passed The Abolition of Mandatory Death Penalty Bill 2023 and the Revision of Sentence of Death and Imprisonment for Natural Life Bill 2023 give judges discretion to choose between the death penalty and life imprisonment for certain offences and remove the death penalty entirely for others.  This is being hailed by many anti-death penalty advocates as a right step forward, though challenges still remain as they push towards abolishing capital punishment entirely. The FreedomFilmFest through the Freedom Film Network have been bringing socially relevant, human rights films to Malaysians since 2003, including those advocating for the abolishment of the mandatory death penalty here in Malaysia. On today's show, we catch up with filmmakers Sherrie Razak Dali (Lawyer & Co-director, Menunggu Masa), Hidayah Hisham (Director,  Ayahku, Dr G) and Mohammad Alshatri (Director, Peluang Kedua) about the films they made which captured the realities of those facing the death penalty, and the hardships and struggles of their families on the outside. We discuss why restorative justice should be the way, instead of punitive justice.

Image Credit: freedomfilm.my

On the 10th of April, 226 workers from Bangladesh and Nepal were rescued from horrible living conditions at a transit home in Negeri Sembilan. The Human Resource Minister, V. Sivakumar conducted a spot check at a dormitory in Nilai after receiving information from the Bangladeshi Embassy. According to reports, the dormitory was a converted shop lot housing these 200-plus workers. 

Adrian Pereira, a migrant and labour rights activist and researcher, and the Director of the North-South Initiative, joins us to discuss.

Image Credit: Hafiz Johari / Shutterstock.com

Malaysia has long had a problem with stray cats and dogs. More often than not, they’re seen as a nuisance to the community and not always treated kindly. With the recent spate of alleged abuse cases towards strays across the country, we take a look at what our actions towards strays tell us about humanity, and how we can manage the stray population in a humane way, together with Choong Koon Yean, President with IAPWA Penang. IAPWA Penang is partnering with the Penang Island City Council to trap, neuter and return strays in the community, as well as get as many adopted as possible. 

Image Credit: Facebook.com/IAPWAPenang

The Kuala Lumpur Structure Plan 2040 (KLSP2040) is the highest planning document for Kuala Lumpur, and contains DBKL's proposed development policies for the next 20 years. According to DBKL, the KLSP2040 gives a detailed description of the development policies for Kuala Lumpur, and will account for the city’s changing social landscape. The plan aims to address key issues such as public transportation, affordable housing, job opportunities and environmental quality improvement in Kuala Lumpur. It's mandatory for DBKL to publish the draft for public viewing and participation - which was done in 2020 - as all stakeholders must be given a chance to provide their input and have their concerns addressed, before the plan is gazetted. After a long silence, there was a recent briefing by DBKL, where stakeholders, including Selamatkan Kuala Lumpur, were surprised to learn that the Draft KLSP2040 had been revised and updated, and is pending endorsement by the Prime Minister. However, stakeholders have not been asked to give feedback to this new draft - why is this integral process of getting responses from stakeholders not being followed? We discuss the many issues surrounding the gazettement of this important plan with Datuk M. Ali, the Chairman of SKL, and Charles Tan, a member of SKL.

Image Credit: SL Chen / Shutterstock.com